


Studies and Snacks

by queerly_quip



Series: Fluff-Fest [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Dorks in Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Harmless fun, Humor, Just friends being friends, Teenage Dorks, alternative title: double dates only they dont know theyre on a date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-05-13 18:56:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14754405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queerly_quip/pseuds/queerly_quip
Summary: Alya, Nino, Marinette, and Adrien stop by a cafe for food before they study at Alya's. Conversations and weird things in general ensue.





	Studies and Snacks

Marinette, Alya, Nino, and Adrien sat outside at a table after school. The sky was bright-ish, covered by a few clouds, but the air was cold and brisk. They were all going to Alya’s to study, and stopped for snacks at a cafe on the way. Alya and Nino got coffee and were sharing some macarons. Adrien grabbed a croissant and some hot cocoa. Marinette, on the other hand…

“Ugh, why did I get ice cream? It’s pretty chilly out here,” Marinette complained. She stuck her nearly-frozen tongue out toward her friends, all sitting around her.

Marinette and her friends sat outside a small cafe near Alya’s home. It was _supposed_ to be warm and sunny today, but luck wasn’t on Marinette’s side today.

_“And of all the days, too.”_

“That’s what makes it fun, right Nino?” Alya asked. 

“I mean, I guess. What flavor did you get?”

“Cookie Dough.”

“Worth it. No questions,” Nino responded, sipping his latte.

Marinette took another bite of her ice cream and shivered.

“Okay, but you know what isn’t? These macarons,” Alya said. She held one up to Marinette, took the small cookie, and bit it. “Totally not worth the four euros.”

“Four euros?! That’s pretty expensive for macarons. Not to mention, they’re kinda sticky and bland. Flavor-wise and looking at it.” 

“ _Exactly!_ No baker in all of Paris can match the Dupain-Cheng bakers,” Alya exclaimed, taking the macaron back.

Adrien leaned forward and took a swig of cocoa. “Is there a secret ingredient or something? How do you do it, Mari?” 

“W-well, there really isn’t a set ‘trick’ to macarons. It’s all about patience. You see…” 

Marinette then fell into a rant talking about the process of baking macarons, with Adrien and Alya listening intently. Nino had heard Marinette’s baking rambles many times before, back when they were kids. She explained the process of whipping the egg whites and waiting for the shells to harden. She explained how color faded from macarons when you added the dry ingredients. She explained the “feet” on the small cookies and how to get them when they bake. 

“...and that’s really all there is to it,” Mari finished. She took a spoon of ice cream and made a face.

“You learned all this from your parents?” Adrien asked, wide-eyed and curious.

“Well, yeah. When I was young I liked to watch them bake, and wanted to help them. Papa taught me once he trusted me enough not to hurt myself too much in the kitchen, knowing how klutzy I am,” Marinette chuckled, scratching at the nape of her neck. Talking about herself was embarrassing and awkward most of the time, and with Adrien in front of her that made matters worse. 

“That’s _amazing_ ,” Adrien said in awe. “All Father taught me to do was look pretty and smile.”

_“Well you sure do look pretty, you’re good at that.”_

“What was that Marinette?” Alya asked, loudly. She had that sly, fox-like smirk on her face that she hated if used against her. Hmm I wonder why 

“Nothing Alya!! I didn’t say anything.” Marinette shoveled a few more bites of ice cream into her mouth and chewed through the cold. She was almost finished with it, about halfway, but the numb feeling of her mouth stopped her from eating more.

“Do you think you could ever teach, like, a baking class or something?” Adrien asked, his emerald eyes glowing and gazing into Marinette’s. “You’re really good at teaching and being a leader, I’m sure you can make a bit of money off of classes taught at the bakery.” 

The image of her teaching Adrien how to bake appeared in her head, and her face began to redden. Fumbling over her words, she pondered for a moment, and looked to Alya for help. Unfortunately, she and Nino became lost in a conversation of their own, talking about Ladybug and Chat Noir. _“ALYA—”_

“U-uh, I mean, I probably could, if I really wanted to. The thing is though, the bakery is pretty busy most of the time, and Maman and Papa need as much help as they can. Not to mention, the kitchen doesn’t have that much room for, say a group of ten people standing around.” 

Marinette saw the light fade from Adrien’s eyes, slowly but surely, and quickly came up with a response.

“B-but, but! I, um, I can probably try and do, like, one-on-one lessons if you really wanted to learn, Adrien. I’m sure Maman and Papa won’t mind,” she added, pink dusting her freckled face.

“Are—are you sure?” Adrien asked, his face re-lighting with the excitement he had moments ago. Just seeing him smiling made Marinette smile as well.

“Yeah, really. I just have to check with my parents before we can confirm anything,” Marinette beamed, quickly finishing the last half of her ice cream.

 “Aaaah, brain-freeze,” Marinette yelped, holding her forehead. She shut her eyes and opened them a couple times, before the sensation went away.

“Marinette, are you okay?” Adrien asked, reaching his hand forward and pushing Marinette’s hand away from her face. 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she reassured him, pulling her hand back from his. “I’m good, I just haven’t had a brain-freeze in a while. My mouth is feeling kind of numb, though, from the ice cream.”

“Okay, just checking. Do you want me to, uh, warm it up for you?” he offered.

Meanwhile, Nino choked on his coffee, and Alya burst into laughter. This went unnoticed by Adrien, who gently smiled and pushed his cup toward Marinette’s side of the table.

Meanwhile, the alarms in Marinette’s head blared even louder. Her face turned red, and she took a deep breath in. _“Be cool, be cool, be cool, be cool—”_

“Oh, oh no, I’m fine, it’s nothing.”

“Please, I insist,” Adrien said. 

Marinette slowly took the cup, despite the deafening alarms going off in her head telling her not to. She took a small sip, enough to make the sensation go away. The cocoa was at the right temperature, not hot enough to burn your tongue, but warm enough to give you that feeling of warmth in your stomach. She put the cup down, and gave it back to Adrien.

“Thanks Adrien.”

 “It’s nothing, don’t sweat it,” he responded while taking a sip of his own. The mental siren continued to sound. 

“So, what do you think?”

“Hm?”

“The cocoa,” he continued.

“Oh. Uh, well, it has a hint of bitterness—coffee, I think—which kind of boosts its flavor, a thing I learned from Papa from baking. It’s not too sweet either, and not too creamy or heavy, a good center of balance, consistency- and flavor-wise.”

“That’s _incredible_. The most I could do is ‘it tastes good.’ What about the croissant?” he pushed the croissant toward her, but Marinette tried to push it back.

“Oh, no, it’s fine, I’m full.”

“Please, this is kinda fun and interesting, and I want to see things from your perspective.” He pulled a face that reminded Mari of a certain cat, and with those eyes she couldn’t say no. She tried following her gut on this one though, and tried to resist.

“No, it’s fine,” she insisted.

“C’mon, please?” He picked up the croissant and held it near Mari’s mouth. Tentatively, she leaned forward and took a bite. Seconds later, she began coughing and took Adrien’s cocoa again for a sip. She took a deep breath, and exhaled.

“Are you okay? Were you choking or anything?”

“No, not, it’s just pretty dry, the croissant. Then it kinda went down the wrong way, y’know?”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. What was it about the croissant again?”

“It’s pretty dry. The baker could’ve just accidentally put a little too much flour, but you can really taste it, and it kind of sucks the moisture out of your mouth, in a way.” 

“Oh, I see.”

The conversation continued with Marinette internally screaming the entire time. Adrien continued to feed her small bits of croissant, while Nino and Alya continued to snicker from the sides. Before long, it was time they left.

“Hey, lovebirds, time to go,” Nino called.

“Yeah, we still have to study, remember?” Alya continued, subtly nudging Marinette with her arm.

“Oh, right, studying.” Her face was practically permanently pink. “Can we do physics first? That’s the one I need help most in.”

“Yeah, sure. I’m positive Mme. Mendeleiev is going to try and trick us on the test,” Alya said, getting up and grabbing her bag.

The other three followed suit, and followed Alya toward her home to study.


End file.
